Eyes Right?

How are the windows of YOUR soul doing?

Are they looking bright or feeling jaded? All this time we spend looking at screens can make your eyes feel tired, so what they need is a little TLC

Something you can do at your desk is called palming. Just put your elbows on the desk, with your hands upright (might be an idea to wash them beforehand, as you’ll be touching your face).

Now let your head sink down and let your palms (bit of a giveaway, that name, eh?) cover your eyes. This should block out all light so your eyes can just rest for a few moments.
 
Don’t stare into the darkness, - keep blinking – so your eye muscles relax.

Do this for 30 seconds to 3 minutes and your eyes will feel refreshed, and so will you.

If you need a little more relaxation, and not just for your eyes message me to book something more intensive, to get yourself all bright eyed and bushytailed.

#selfcareisnotselfish #selfcaretips #deskselfcare 

#theorganicbeautician #loveyoureyes

What's in your skin care?

What's in your skin care?

And, is it beneficial or detrimental?

All those long Latin or Greek names. Are they natural or not?

Do you need to be a cosmetic chemist to make sense of it all?

Take alcohol for instance

Bad for the liver and the skin, isn’t it?

Or is it?

If you’re as old as me, you might remember the luridly-fluorescent toners teenage girls bought in the 1980s. They stripped every last drop of oil from your skin, which then responded by overproducing oil, so you used more toner. (Great sales model, but not so fab for your face) 

And that cycle repeated, ad infinitum.

So, if you’re reading an ingredient label, and you see alcohol listed, don’t just assume that the product will be drying, as it’s not always the case.

Because, alcohol (as you might already know) comes in many different forms. And I don’t just mean tequila or vodka.

Some sorts of alcohol are great to have in your skin care

They’re usually called fatty alcohols and include ingredients like cetyl, cetearyl or stearyl alcohol, and guess what? they're derived from fats. (The name is a bit of a giveaway, there, isn’t it?)

They are also called esters, and Beeswax, for instance, contains about 50 percent monoester, while carnauba wax is roughly 85 percent ester. And both those ingredients are generally considered good for your skin, not drying.

Then there’s something you might recognise - Tocopherol. (The -ol ending shows it’s also an alcohol.) α-Tocopherol is also known as Vitamin E, which is generally considered beneficial for the skin, and not at all drying. In fact, fatty alcohols have an ability to lock moisture into the skin to form a protective barrier.

That sounds ok, doesn’t it?

The type of alcohol you want to avoid like the (current) plague, at least on your face, is SD40 (AKA isopropyl alcohol). This is great for sterilising surfaces and is often in cheap hand sanitisers, which is why your hands might feel mega dry, if you use the ones supplied in shop entrances, rather than carry your own.

Ingredients lists can be a bit of a minefield, so you may need some help decoding what’s good for your skin, what’s not and how you can look younger for longer.

Rather than turning to drink, at the thought of how complicated it is, why not get some help from a professional?

Message jane@theorganicbeautician.com to book yourself a consultation with an expert

 

Selfcare is NOT selfish

     

   Today - being Friday - is one of only two days ruled by a female Deity.

   Lucky to get two, really, weren't we?

   So, let’s not moan, because at 28.5%, it’s a better percentage than many parliaments around the world.

   Anyway, who has time to complain? Most of the women I meet and treat hardly have time to sleep, what with a job, trying to run a household, juggling animals and children (not necessarily in that order) and attempting to fit in cooking healthy meals and a spot of exercise.

     But finding time for you is important.

     Let something drop, and step off the treadmill, before you fall off it, drooping with exhaustion.

     Sometimes stopping everything for a little time out can be so energising that you get more done after the break. And selfcare is not selfish, it’s a necessity.

     As most women don’t have sheds, they need to escape to salons for a little P&Q. If you really can’t find time even for that, then carve out some time at home and do your own pamper session.

     Too tired to think of what to do? Maybe you need a little nudge?

     Every Friday I send out a Pamper Mission with suggestions on how you can treat yourself at home.

     Want to get those? Sign up HERE

Marilyn Monroe, who was a lot cleverer than she was given credit for once said 

“I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.”

But she died in her 30s, well before Botox was anything other than a life-threatening disease carried by over-ripe sausages, and fillers were something you chose to put in a sandwich, so didn’t have the chance to try either. 

Would she have done? Who knows?

And should we take beauty advice from film stars anyway? So, what’s the best thing to do? That's what I'm regularly asked.

Make your own decision, I think. 

After some detailed research, of course.

If you want to try something like Botox, and feel it will improve your life, that’s up to you. It’s doubtful that it will improve your life, but it’s your face, after all. 

Never have been one to follow the herd, and really having a severe antipathy to needles, I’m going to stick to the old fashioned route of ageing, but as Dylan Thomas said I will

“…not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” 

(Or the incipient wrinkles, if you're a hit shallower - that would be me, then.) 

Not that I’m into rage, really, sensible action is more my preference. Which is why I’ll be eschewing needles and practicing Facial exercises. 

Want to know more? Message me and we can chat. 

 

Parched limbs?

 So, a week of lovely weather, and suddenly the earth in the garden is looking parched.

From wearing wellies on my daily walk, it's suddenly sandal weather. And are my limbs ready for the sudden exposure?

That would be a 'no' from me.

I look like 'Nausicaa of the white arms', but considerably less glamorous. (Or Ancient Greek.)  
Way back when, Nausicaa and her maidens went down to the riverbank to bathe and do the washing, there being a dearth of domestic white goods in Greece at that point. They met Odysseus and kindly gave him clean clothes, and some oil to rub on his sea-drenched limbs.

He eventually repaid them with the Odyssey.

Which in those days was the equivalent of binge-watching Game of Thrones, presumably.

(Never watched it myself, as my son-in law lent me book 1, and that was sufficiently blood-drenched to put me off)

Anyway, the point of this massive tragic digression was the oil.

Because now is a jolly good time to start treating your arms and legs with some oil or body lotion.

Oiled legs

Your choice, but the best time to do this is when you emerge, like Aphrodite from the waves.

Failing that, the shower will do just fine.

By applying oil or lotion while the skin is damp, you trap moisture, which helps keep skin hydrated. Natty eh?

So that's your pamper mission. Lavish some love (and oil) on your limbs.

If you want to do something luscious for your face, however, you could take a peep at THIS. I have just two spaces left for the next few weeks, so delaying might cost you.

Want more info? Text the Pamper line on 07961224560

Recently I've been getting quite a few questions about ingredients, especially when they sound "chemical". 

So here is the answer to one...

"Why are there added essential oils in the Dr Hauschka products? I thought they used whole plant ingredients?"

Fair point, and you're right in that assumption - they DO use whole plants, but there's rules and regulations that govern these things even more strictly than a Government minister's Dominatrix.

Generally speaking, it can be safer to use whole plants, and often more beneficial, because although loads of things have been analysed to the nth atom, there may still be other - as yet unfound - ingredients.

And there's this thing called synergy, which is what happens when ingredients work together as a whole.

The whole is frequently greater than the broken up constituent parts.

For instance, take willow bark: one of the main ingredient in that is salicylic acid.

Which is commonly found in aspirin.

Yep, one of the commonest drugs on this planet was originally synthesised from Willow bark. In fact the name salicylic comes from its Latin name: Salix (meaning willow)

Willow bark contains salicin, a compound that can be metabolised in the body to create salicylic acid, and is a precursor to aspirin.

It's been used in Folk medicine for yonks, to relieve pain, calm inflammation, and reduce fever. However, because it was used in its whole (or wholistic) form, all of the other constituents probably played a part in the healing properties.

Once you extract one ingredient, things can get out of balance, and the body doesn't always recognise it.

The same thing with essential oils. You can buy 'fragrance' oils which are lab synthesised, so don't contain all the complexity of a natural oil. (And they can be toxic...)

Rose oil, for instance, is unbelievably complex, and contains more than 300 known compounds. However, you can list some of them separately and get things like

• citronellol
  
• phenyl ethanol
  
• geraniol
  
• nerol
  
• farnesol
  
• nonanol
  
• linalool,
  
• nonanal
  
• phenyl acetaldehyde
  
• citral
  
• carvone
  
• 2-phenylmenthyl acetate
  
• methyl eugenol
  
• eugenol 
  
  

Some of which sound well dodgy, don't they?

I mean, if you saw 2-phenylmenthyl acetate on a bottle you'd be sensible to assume it was created in a lab, wouldn't you?

Can you imagine Juliet going round saying -
 
"2-phenylmenthyl acetate, 2-phenylmenthyl acetate,
Wherefore art thou 2-phenylmenthyl acetate?"

No. No poetry in that. A rose really might not smell as sweet, if that's what it was called.

However, poetry is not for chemistry lessons, although if you ask nicely I'll tell you one we used to sing at school.* 

Now, as I mentioned yesterday, there's this thing called INCI which stands for International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient. (Isn't nomenclature a fab word? Back to Latin again, you see, can't escape - well, it is Hallowe'en)

You can see why they shorten it to INCI, can't you?

This deals with the systematic names which are "internationally recognised to identify cosmetic ingredients (i.e, plant extracts, oils, chemicals)." 

These names are developed by the International Nomenclature Committee (INC) and published in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook.

Sounds like a helluva read, that.

The regulations go further - like Tax legislation - and certain ingredients must be listed separately, even if they are present as a whole plant ingredient.

So that, in an enormously gargantuan nutshell, is why you'll see things like Citral, Farnesol, Benzyl Alcohol and Eugenol listed on your Rose Day Cream.

Not because they're added in to make it smell nice, although they do contribute to that, but because they are integral parts of the ingredients used to give you radiant skin. 

Have a Radiant day! 

And if you want a daily Beauty Bulletin, sign up HERE

*It was a ditty set to music and went like this:
Poor old Brown is dead and gone,
His face you'll see no more,
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4...

The Daddy of Handwashing

Okay, you've seen the loo roll wars, and now know what panic looks like, but imagine going into hospital and knowing that you had roughly a 13% chance of surviving if you turned left, not right?

That puts the loo roll wars into perspective doesn't it?

But that is precisely what pregnant women faced in 19th century Vienna.

In 1847, a chap named Ignaz Semmelweis was an obstetrician working in Vienna, looking after two separate maternity wards, and he noticed - as you would - that the women in one ward died in droves, while in the other, the majority survived. 

Ignaz Semmelwiess portrait
from Britannica.com

How could that be? He wondered and investigated, to find that in one ward, the women in labour were looked after by midwives, while in the other one - just across the corridor - they were in the care of (male) doctors.

Now, at that point, the medical profession assumed the people died from “miasmas” which were poisonous, invisible, airborne gases. But Professor Semmelweiss thought that this couldn't be the case, because air moves, and would certainly blow from room to room.

Then he then noted the difference in staff: midwives in one room, and, in the other, doctors, who were also performing post mortems and autopsies. (If not at the same time…)

Obviously, the women were not allowed anywhere near the autopsy room, whereas the doctors would go straight from performing an autopsy to assist a woman in labour. Yep. Really.

History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine.
Courtesy of Pan American Health Organization,
circa 1960s, Bolivia. Photographer: Dana Downie

You can see where this went, can’t you?

Yes. The doctors (like many modern visitors to the men’s room) were not washing their hands! 

The Midwives never went into the post-mortem room and never handled dead bodies, while doctors would perform an autopsy and then go straight to the maternity ward next door to deliver a baby. Nice.

Anyhow, clever old Semmelweiss assumed there was a correlation between this, which was confirmed when one of his colleagues got septicaemia: Dr Kolletschka cut himself while doing an autopsy, developed blood poisoning, and died.

When he attended his chum’s autopsy (as you do?) Dr Semmelweis noticed that lesions on his colleague's body matched the lesions on the body of the autopsy patient. This - he thought - meant that the SCALPEL had transferred the miasma, not the air!

Scrupulous and vigorous hand-washing was instigated at his command, and the death rate on both wards subsequently dropped dramatically.

Which was great for all concerned, except poor old Semmelweiss. 

Because, you’d have thought that the medical profession would have lauded him as a hero, but no.

When he presented his findings, even though he could show that a simple hygiene measure - hand washing - was saving the lives of neonates and their mothers, he was utterly mocked and ridiculed.

It took many years and many more deaths before the medical profession got to grips with this. Which is one reason why surgeons wear bow ties – they can’t drip into things they shouldn’t (and I don’t mean their soup!)

Semmelweiss was sacked and ended his life in an asylum. Poor chap. Because, he was a hygiene hero.

How do I know all this? I heard a play on the radio many years ago and was horrified by this tale. So, I then went and read all about him. Recently the Google doodle was commemorating him quite rightly, as we all know about hand washing now, so credit where it’s due.

So wash your hands scrupulously and frequently, but if all that hand washing is taking its toll, you know where you can get hand cream don’t you?

That’s right. Text the Pamper line and I’ll post you some. 07961224560 will do the trick. You can sanitise the screen afterwards.  

Stay well and have a radiant day!

Love, x Jane x

Okay, you've seen the loo roll wars, and now know what panic looks like, but imagine going into hospital and knowing that you had roughly a 13% chance of surviving if you turned left, not right?

That puts the loo roll wars into perspective doesn't it?

But that is precisely what pregnant 

Ignaz Semmelweiss - from Britannica.com

women faced in 19th century Vienna.
In 1847, a chap named Ignaz Semmelweis was an obstetrician working in Vienna, looking after two separate maternity wards, and he noticed - as you would - that the women in one ward died in droves, while in the other, the majority survived. 

How could that be? He wondered and investigated, to find that in one ward, the women in labour were looked after by midwives, while in the other one - just across the corridor - they were in the care of (male) doctors.

Now, at that point, the medical profession assumed the people died from “miasmas” which were poisonous, invisible, airborne gases. But Professor Semmelweiss thought that this couldn't be the case, because air moves, and would certainly blow from room to room.

Then he then noted the difference in staff: midwives in one room, and, in the other, doctors, who were also performing post mortems and autopsies. (If not at the same time…)

Obviously, the women were not allowed anywhere near the autopsy room, whereas the doctors would go straight from performing an autopsy to assist a woman in labour. Yep. Really.

You can see where this went, can’t you?

Yes. The doctors (like many modern visitors to the men’s room) were not washing their hands! 

The Midwives never went into the post-mortem room and never handled dead bodies, while doctors would perform an autopsy and then go straight to the maternity ward next door to deliver a baby. Nice.

Anyhow, clever old Semmelweiss assumed there was a correlation between this, which was confirmed when one of his colleagues got septicaemia: Dr Kolletschka cut himself while doing an autopsy, developed blood poisoning, and died.

When he attended his chum’s autopsy (as you do?) Dr Semmelweis noticed that lesions on his colleague's body matched the lesions on the body of the autopsy patient. This - he thought - meant that the SCALPEL had transferred the miasma, not the air!

Scrupulous and vigorous hand-washing was instigated at his command, and the death rate on both wards subsequently dropped dramatically.

Which was great for all concerned, except poor old Semmelweiss. 

Because, you’d have thought that the medical profession would have lauded him as a hero, but no.

When he presented his findings, even though he could show that a simple hygiene measure - hand washing - was saving the lives of neonates and their mothers, he was utterly mocked and ridiculed.

It took many years and many more deaths before the medical profession got to grips with this. Which is one reason why surgeons wear bow ties – they can’t drip into things they shouldn’t (and I don’t mean their soup!)

Semmelweiss was sacked and ended his life in an asylum. Poor chap. Because, he was a hygiene hero.

How do I know all this? I heard a play on the radio many years ago and was horrified by this tale. So, I then went and read all about him. Recently the Google doodle was commemorating him quite rightly, as we all know about hand washing now, so credit where it’s due.

So wash your hands scrupulously and frequently, but if all that hand washing is taking its toll, you know where you can get hand cream don’t you?

That’s right. Text the Pamper line and I’ll post you some. 07961224560 will do the trick. You can sanitise the screen afterwards.  

Stay well and have a radiant day!

Love, x Jane x

Into the Arms of Morpheus - How to Sleep Better (Part 1)

In Greek mythology, Morpheus was the god of dreams

The Greeks believed that he shaped and formed their dreams. 

Because he could appear to mere mortals in any shape or form (hence - morph, meaning form, or shape) he functioned as a messenger of the gods, communicating divine messages to sleeping mortals. Or brain-washing them, if you prefer...

Although he could take a human form, Morpheus’s true shape was rather more nightmarish - a winged demon. He was the son of Hypnos, the rather nattily named God of sleep and his mama was Pasithea, the Goddess of relaxation and rest. He had a few brothers, collectively known as the Oneiroi (dreams), but we won't bother with them or his parents much.

Morpheus seems to have outlasted his parents and brethren as an expression to embody peaceful sleep and rest.

(Which is unlikely where the Greeks and their gods were concerned, but let us refrain from picking nits.)

How can we get back to being pals with Morpheus?

Maybe by switching off a bit more and a bit sooner...

Screens are a sleep-killer

Screens are a disaster for sleep. The blue light they emit suppress your body’s release of melatonin. 

Never mind Glamis having murdered sleep. Nothing in Macbeth is a patch on the damage blue light does to sleepy time and your body-clock.

What's Melatonin?

If you've seen packets of it at the chemist, you'll know that some people use melatonin as a sleep aid. Our bodies make it naturally but suppressing it - not such good move.

Melanin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep, so we want to encourage it not suppress it. This means things like reading a proper paper book, rather than a machiney e-one at night prior to sleeping.

In fact, research from Harvard Medical School has found that people who read traditional paper books fall asleep faster and feel more alert the next morning than those who go to bed with an e-reader.

Plus how on earth do you turn over a corner of an ebook?

Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of iGen, a book examining the relationship between adolescents and technology recommends not using devices at night.

She says social media and other smartphone activities tend to keep you thinking about what you've read in a way that is not conducive to switching off and sleeping. She says:

“It’s too easy to keep thinking about your friend’s text, the frustrating work email, or the comments on your Facebook post.”

In other words, if you're worrying about the news you've read or wondering if you bought the wrong thing, your brain will keep buzzing.

“None of this is conducive to settling down for sleep at night,” Twenge says.

There you are! That's Harvard and a Professor of Psychology telling you. Not just lil' ol' me.

There seems to be a fashion in which way to lie babies.
I always put mine facing up. Not like this.

So turn off all screens good few hours before bed, and that means the news, too. The news is rarely good, always sensational and not exactly designed to help you rest and recuperate. 

To sleep like the proverbial baby - a nice quiet one, not a yelling, colicking sort, switch off early and often.

Have a radiant day and a restful night!

PS What to do instead of screen time? A warm bath while sipping an herbal infusion. I'll tell you which ones are good tomorrow.

Why you can't you use Essential oil in the water

If only I had a fiver for every time I've been asked "Can I use Essential oil in the water"  No.You can't. And if you are reluctant to spend more hard-earned moolah on a bath oil, then I'll ask one in return. . . Have you ever made salad dressing?  When you make salad dressing, you add oil and a water based liquid like vinegar or lemon juice. Or Bergamot juice if you're feeling flush and adventurous. You add a few other things and then you shake it, shake it baby. (Twisting and shouting is optional, unless you have Gordon Ramsay there?)  You shake it, then leave it for a bit and come back and it has separated. Because Oil and water don't mix. And, as you might have guessed from the name, Essential oils are oily They are also incredibly intense and concentrated medicinal products. Some of them can even burn you. Dropping essential oil on top of water, even if you use a portable liquidisery thingy will not mix the oil in the water; it will remain distinctly separate. An 'oil in water' emulsion will not spontaneously and magically occur. Chemistry and physics don't work like that. Shame, and annoying, but so much is, I find. To mix oil and water you need an emulsifier of some sort This is because water molecules are polar. This means that one end has a negative charge, and the other has a positive one. Just like a battery. Except without the helpful little markings. Those charges let the molecules form hydrogen bonds and attach to any other molecules that are polar, like other water molecules. So you get H2O. Two lots of hydrogen to one lot of Oxygen. Easy peasy. Who said chemistry was hard? But, oil molecules are not polar, so they can't form hydrogen bonds. Even if they wanted to. Which they don't seem to. When you put oil and water together, the water molecules stick together like glue, and the oil molecules all squish up together in a distinctly separate clump. Like teenagers of opposite sexes at a disco. What you see is two distinct layers. Floating oil on water To get them to mix, or to make an emulsion, you need an emulsifier. That's alcohol, in the case of the shy teenagers, but to go back to our now-separated salad dressing, you can use something like mustard, mayonnaise or egg yolk. These will bind the two disparate substances together. If you are absolutely insistent that you want to use your essential oil for your compresses, then you can try mixing it with full-fat milk. Too much faffing about for my liking, so I use a bath essence, which contains Sulphated castor oil (Organic, natch) which is an oil treated to mix with water. This is also known as Red Turkey oil, and is the only oil which will mix with water. Using this means that your water is softened, scented and medicinally useful, as you can tailor the oil you choose for your compress to the time of day, your mood, and your current skin condition. Sage is great for oilier skin, for calming down those pesky female hormones Moor Lavender is fab at night, having soporific properties, is generally calming on both mood and skin redness and softening the water for sensitive skin Lemon is good for summer time, as it's cooling, but also lovely and awakening of a dull dreary morning, when you'd really rather not bother Rose is the queen of Flowers, smells divine, and is suitable at all and any times. A bit like champagne. . . But don't put champagne in your compress water. That would be wasteful. So the short answer to "can I use essential oils instead, because I've got those and it's cheaper?"  It's still no. Not because essential oils aren't wonderful - they are - but because it's wasteful.

What's your 20/20 vision?

Happy 2020

Do you have a 20/20 vision? 

Does it include a New You?

If so why?

What's wrong with the current 'you'? 

Is it really something that entails an entirely changed person? 

Or is all the novelty just a jolly good way to sell newspapers and their ilk?

The latter, probably.

There's nothing wrong with

• dry January
• Starting to exercise
• cleaning up your diet
• stopping smoking
• Juicing celery
• drinking lemon water. . . 

...and all the rest of the changes we feel we should make. 

If needed. 

But is January really a good time to do that?

February, once the days are visibly longer, is probably better, as it might be slightly more tempting to leave a warm (or tepid in our case) house to walk/run/jog/hop in the fresh air. The air in January can be a little too fresh, which might put you off for good.

The problem is that most New Year Resolutions are broken. Usually before February.

They probably should be renamed "New Month's Resolutions".

Which is why joining a gym in January is generally a waste of money for 11/12ths of the year.

Do it in February instead, and try it for one month.
If you think you'll continue, then go for it. If not, you can thank me later. (And spend the money saved on a nice, relaxing facial?)

The last resolution I made, about 15 years ago, was not to resolve ever again. That one was dead easy to keep.

Our brains are funny things, especially the primitive part. They like to take things literally and they are not programmed well for negativity.

So, saying things like "I'm giving up alcohol" or "I'm going on a diet" upset it and you'll sabotage yourself. Or your brain will.

(I won't go on for ages about this, although it's fascinating stuff, because Google can tell you more than I.)

Maddening, isn't it? But, to succeed, you have to put a positive spin on things. Be your own Spin Doctor!

Instead of "going on a diet", which is a depressing thought, try telling yourself that you're going to eat a delicious salad for lunch every day. That you're going to enjoy drinking more water as your skin will look so great. That sort of thing.

There are some handy hints in my book, if you need motivation.

If you haven't a copy, go HERE to get one, or message me and I'll post one, with some goodies.

Obviously, I'm not resolving anything, but I am doing Dry January, despite my birthday being bang in the middle of it - I'll drink Purdey's rather than champagne, I suppose.

Also, I'm going to do Facial Gym exercises EVERY day.

That'll be made a little easier by that fact that I won't be alone. If you want to join in, the "Chin & Necks" course will be starting in Mid January. There are still two spaces left...

Have a radiant YEAR!

What to wear to vote?

People ask lots of questions about makeup but something I rarely get asked, in fact, almost never, is "which lipstick should I wear to vote?" 

In an attempt to lighten the mood a little, here is the answer to that question, which is undoubtedly one of today's least important issues, but should you be terribly excited about the election, you can at least make sure that your makeup is in keeping with your political choices. 

Green Goddesses should be totally happy with the entire Dr Hauschka makeup range, as it is undoubtedly 'green', being biodynamic/organic and produced in a factory that recycles its water and uses green electricity, amongst many other environmentally-friendly policies. 
Should you wish to wear your colours on your face, a good choice might be Eye Definer 04, a soft green eyeliner, and eyeshadow Verdelite 04, a darker green with added sparkle. (All politicians can do with a little more sparkle, in my view.) A nice addition might be the Limited Edition Green Mascara, for lashes as green as your politics.

Eyeshadow Trio 01

Azalea Lipstick

Conservatives and 'True Blue' types have plenty of choice with eye colours: there is the Blue Mascara, an Eye Definer 03 in a bright blue, and a lovely soft blue shade in the new palette called Sapphire. Plenty of choice there.

For lipsticks, it might be best to avoid a red, unless it really is a really blue-toned one, but the bluish-pink lipstick Azalea might be just tick all the right boxes. . .

Rubellite for eyes

Labour lovers will want to avoid any blues, of course, but can plump for really red lips, so something like Dahlia topped with Goji lipgloss would be fab. 

On the eyes, the closest thing to red is the Rubellite eyeshadow, which comes in a just left-of-centre soft pink. Brown mascara goes well with this. 

Amber Eyeshadow

The poor LibDems seem to be slightly confused about which colour represents them, them having meandered from yellow to orange then back again. So how about the lovely Amber eyeshadow which is particularly flattering for both blue and green eyes and those who aren't quite sure? If that's a little bit too out there, a soft vanilla shade - Alabaster might be more subtle.  Brown Mascara might be a good choice with either of these. 

For lips, there is a fab orange called Fire Lily, which looks as it sounds, but is surprisingly flattering, whatever your political persuasion. 

Ametrine Trio

Along with Voltaire, (and the writer who actually wrote that this was his attitude, a woman called Beatrice Hall)  ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" describes pretty well many people's thoughts about the last party. 

Chessflower

UKippers seem to go for purple, so there is plenty of choice for them with Plum volume mascara and Eye Definer and a lovely palette of mixed purples called Ametrine. The purplest lipsticks are Hollyhock, a deep plum with a hint of pink, and deep purple Chessflower. 

All types of politicos will benefit from the Colour Correcting powder, which unlike many politicians, actually does what it says on the tin and also looks pretty and smells delicious. (Possibly unlike most of them...)

Colour Correcting Powder: only works on faces,  not policies.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide to vote! 

If you would like a totally non-political, personal colour assessment and makeup session do get in touch. I am the only Dr Hauschka Certified Makeup artist in the UK and I absolutely promise not to mention politics! jane@theorganicbeautician.com

The Changing Face (and Body) of Beauty

Faces and bodies are subject to fashion as much as hair, clothing and makeup.

You might be aware of the scary light blue eyeshadow trend? 

Popular in both the 1950s and again in the 1970s, this is not generally a good look, although of course, the gorgeous Agnetha looked fantastic in anything.

Abba's Agnetha in blue eyeshadow

Even baby-blue eyeshadow. 

Despite that, it's a trend best forgotten swiftly, so let us move on rapidly.

Visiting Malta recently and the ancient Hypogeum, I realised how much beauty is in the eye of the beholder

The Sleeping Lady

Despite her girth The Sleeping Lady is tiny. Her rest was disturbed when she was removed from the Hypogeum. (Well worth a visit, but book many months in advance!)
She is now slumbering in a museum, but is easily missed as she is so little. 

She is very far removed from our current idea of beauty, though. We're not over keen on hips like that nowadays, and prefer a more athletic form, although this is a very modern trend.

Take Rubens, and his pneumatic ladies 

Dawn French once said: 

‘If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush.’

Wealth is always attractive

Or it's thought to be. Rubens did paint some smaller women, but on the whole his subjects were anything but thin, in line with society. 

The people who could afford his paintings were rich, and larger ladies were on trend, as a status symbol - their generous size meant that their husbands could afford to feed them really well, so he must have lots of money. Poor women worked hard and had less to eat, so they were probably a lot thinner than their wealthy sisters. 

Being large was a status symbol

Also the people buying the pictures and painting were almost 100% men. And men generally like child bearing hips, even if their owners don't.

This trend was wiped out in the 1960s, when waif-like women became trendy.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to look like Twiggy. 

All eye lashes and no hips

This actually was a recap on the 1920s androgynous look when women bound their breasts to flatten them in an attempt to look more boyish. 

Dying to be thin

During the Renaissance, and in many other eras, thin women were not considered beautiful, but nowadays, wealthy people tend to be skinny. 

Despite most of us being lucky enough to have plenty of food, some girls are starving themselves in pursuit of a mythical ideal of thinness. But there's no point in being skinny, if you are anorexic and your hair starts falling out. Or you get so ill that you have to be force fed and hospitalised.

Although it must be said that not all thin girls have anorexia and will resent it, if you assume they do. Some people just really prefer salad to crisps. (I like both. But, crisps in moderation, salad not.) 

Naturally thin girls can have a hard time too (I know - I was one for decades!) 

People comment on your size and say things like 

"Ooh you're so thin. We must feed you up." 

Can you imagine if I'd said the same thing to them, but opposite - 

"Oh you're so chunky. We must put you on a diet!" 

It would have been unspeakably rude, so I never did. But I often felt like it...

Equally, if you're a curvy beauty, don't long to be skinny, but enjoy having your luscious curves. 

The Venus of Willendorf.
Possibly not a healthy eating role model.
More of a fertility goddess

If you're interested, most men prefer curves

The brain of the male of the species is programmed to notice fertility of prospective mates (that would ideally be most women) and what their brain looks for is curves:

Breasts that can nurture a baby, hips to store fat to feed that eventual baby, and a waist in between, so that they can see that the woman is not already pregnant. 

That might sound sexist, but Nature is pretty sexist, I've found.

The sanest way to look at body size and shape is probably to be happy in your own

It's the only one we'll get after all. At least this time round.

I really hope we are approaching an era of common sense where anyone, regardless of their size can feel and look beautiful. 

Because beauty should be a question of good health, not size

What we should all be aiming for, regardless of our size is a healthy diet, some pleasurable activity and exercise and acceptance of, and appreciation for, our own unique natural beauty.